Cop package



May 23, 1967 F, WERNER ET AI. 3,321,073

COP PACKAGE Filed Sept. 13, 1965 CUT I INE T3 T if 'f f HEAT sEAL AND SEPARATION I INE I j 57T 2A W 5 HI///I v I l 4 V cuT I INIEE\I"/4 AFI /"l T /Ivvs/vrons HEAT EAI.- -F- F/P/rz WERNER AND s KARL GRAssMA/IM/ SEPARATION r PETER BERGER LINE dat.; @w 14 United States Patent Office 3,3ZL73- Patented May 23, 1967 3,321,673 CUP PACKAGE Fritz Werner, Wuppertai-Elherfeld, Karl Grassmann, Wuppertal-Barmen, and Peter Berger, Wassenberg, Germany, assignors to J. P. Bamberg Aktiengesellschaft, Wuppertal-Barmen, Germany Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 486,715

Claims priority, appiication Germany, Sept. 12, 1964,

3 Claims. (Cl. 2Go-46) This invention relates to packaging of cops, and more particularly, the invention is concerned with the protection of the thread which is wound on a hollow spool or bobhin to form the cop by means of a packing bag capable of enclosing the cop during its necessary handling, storage, transport and the like within the plant in which the cops are manufactured.

In the handling and shipping of cops consisting of spools or bobbins wound with all types of artificial and synthetic threads, they are generally packaged in paper which has been cut to size or in bags having a single open end. The use of paper for such packaging is quite expensive, especially on account of the time and labor required to cut and fit the paper to the size of the cop. The use of a bag has the disadvantage that the cop cannot be mounted on so-called pin-carts or pin-boards for transport from the point at which the cops are formed to the point at which they are packaged in cases or cartons.

It has now been found, in accordance with the present invention, that the cops can be handled and transported on pins or mounting rods in a much more convenient and economical manner by using a cop package in which the cop as a thread-wound hollow spool is enclosed by a tubular (preferably a seamless tube in its initial form), synthetic thermoplastic foil which is open at both ends. More particularly, it is necessary to form a plurality of and preferably two uniformly spaced and oppositely disposed heat-sealed pleats in the foil wherein the heat-seal tapers conically inwardly from the sides of the foil to an opening therein in the form of a truncated apex at one end of the cop so as to lit over and cover the outer thread surface on the sides and said end of the cop` Also, the tubular foil at the opposite end of the cop should have a much larger opening sufficient to fit over the maximum diameter of the cop, and the length of the tubular foil is preferably sufficient to be folded over this opposite end of the cop and to be tucked into the axial opening of the hollow spool.

The cop package of the invention is illustrated in greater detail by the following specication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG, 1 is an elevational view of a cop in the form of an elongated thread-wound hollow bobbin in which the thread package tapers gradually from the center to both ends of the bobbin;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a seamless thermoplastic tubular foil or film which has been folded fiat in order to form two welded or heat-sealed single pleats therein;

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken on line A-A of F IG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view from slightly above the cop package which res-ults when the tubular foil of FIG. 2 is drawn over the cop of FlG. l;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of another seamless thermoplastic foil which has been folded flat with two oppositely disposed bi-folds or double pleats and heatsealed or welded according to the invention;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views taken on lines 5, 6 6 and '7-7 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is an illust-ration of the manner in which a continuous seamless tubular foil pleated as in FIG. 4 can be heat-sealed and cut to produce a number of protective bags.

The term pleat is used herein in its generic sense of a crease or fold where a sheet or foil material is folded over itself to form two or more layers which lay flat upon each other. Thus a single pleat is obtained simply by flattening a tubular foil on itself, i.e. so that there are two at layers of the foil when viewed in cross-section with two oppositely disposed and parallel longitudinal folds, creases or pleats. A double pleat similarly provides four layers of foil by drawing the single pleat inwardly toward the center longitudinal line of the foil and making two more folds or creases.

In the drawing, the wound thread package 1 on the elongated hollow spool 2, as shown in FIG, l, tapers very gradually from the maximum diameter D at the center to the diameter of the spool d at either end ofthe cop as indicated by the angle a. The cop has an overall height h, and the tubular foil 3 as shown in FIG. 2 is therefore preferably cut to a length I which is greater than h such that the bottom end 9 of the foil can be folded inwardly and tucked into the lhollow end of the spool. The width w of the flattened tubular foil as shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A should be somewhat greater than /zvrD to permit the foil in tubular lform to be drawn over the cop. The upper end 1li of the foil contains a pleat 4 and 5 on either side which is then tapered inwardly on lines d and 7 where the thermoplastic material has been heat-sealed or welded together and the pleated corners removed as indicated by the dotted lines. These heat-seals cause the upper portion of the bag to taper conically inwardly by the angle et' from the sides thereof up to a truncated. apex 8 which remains open over the distance x between the dotted lines. This opening x is about equal to 1/21rd so as to tit snugly around the spool, although it is preferably provided that it permits a mounting pin or rod holder to pass therethrough when temporarily storing the cop package on a pin-board or the like.

When the bag 3 is drawn over the cop 1 and the lower end of the bag tucked into the spool, the resulting completed package has an appearance substantially as shown in FIG. 3.

In FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 an especially preferred embodiment is illustrated wherein the foil 11 contains a double pleat on each side, i.e. two outer folds on each side 12, 13, 14 and 15, and one inner fold on each side 16 and 17. The Ifoil with this double pleat is first laid fiat and heat `sealed along lines 1S and 19 to form the inwardly tapering heat-sealed pleated corners Ztl and 21, while still leaving an opening 22 which is just small enough to rest on the spool of the cop and large enough to permit the free passage of a pin holder or the like. In the heat-sealing process or subsequent thereto, the corner portions 20 and 21 are removed or cut away as indicated by the dotted lines. Especially durable weld seams result from this four-fold lapping of the foil material over the cone-shaped end of the cop, and by using seamless tubular foil, it is possible to achieve a relatively uniform, close fitting and easily applied protective receptacle for the thread-wound bobbin. The foil walls adhere better and projecting edges are much less evident when the foil is placed in position on the cop, i.e. substantially as shown in FIG. 3.

The dimensions of the foil as shown in FIG. 4 can be aproximately the same as in the foil of FIG. 2, except that the width of the pleated foil is less due to the fact that each side has been folded inwardly to form a double pleat. Of course, this double pleat opens out :below the heatsealed portion when the bag is drawn over the cop. It is preferable to make the double pleat such that the inner folds 16 and 17 do not meet at the center but instead are spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit easy passage of the pin holder at the top end of the bag. On the other hand, these inner folds 16 and 17 should fall entirely within the tapered heat-seal lines 18 and 19 as shown in FIG. 4 in order to prevent the bag from becoming torn along a heat-seal line which binds together only two layers yof the foil.

Thus, -in both embodiments lof the bag as illustrated in the drawing, one initially uses a seamless tubular foil of the same height and Width, and then -we'lds or heat-seals the fiat foil whether singleor double-pleated to make a narrow opening `at one end with a circumference which is preferably somewhat smaller than the circumference of the bobbin spool. The sides and opposite end of the bag can then be easily opened out to form a generally cylindrical covering fitting snugly around the thread wound bobbin.

Any of the well known flexible, weldable thermoplastic films or foils which are extruded or blown in tubular form can be used for purposes of the present invention. Polyethylene is especially preferred.

It is generally customary to sor-t and inspect the cops and to transfer the reserve threads from them while they are situated on a pin holder or the like, i.e., a pin or rod inserted through the hollow axis of the spool. The protective tubular foil vcan `then be drawn over the Cop held in this position until the upper end of the foil formed lby the narrowed tubular walls is `arrested by the upper conical portion of the cop. The lfoil then rests uniformly around the thread and upper bobbin end and protects the reserve thread as `well as the surfaces of the thread. After removing the pin holder from the spool, the bobbin can be turned over and the longitudinally projecting lower end of the tubular foil can ibe loosely pressed into the axial opening of the bobbin. The cops can now be transported to another location for packaging in cases or cartons for shipping, e.g., by inserting the cops upside down, such that the smal-l opening of the foil at the upper end of the protective bag is pointed downwardly, over mounting rods on a pin-wagon. The cops when protected in this manner can be handled and transported rapidly without injuring the package or endangering the thread on the cop.

Other methods of making the tubular foil structure yfor purposes of this invention will be apparent to a skilled person, e.g., by heat sealing the pleated corners to `form a weld running from both sides of the foil obliquely to each other up to a point at the center of the foil and then cutting off the point so that the central or axial opening has the desired size. Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the seams can rst -be formed in a continuous double-pleated tubular foil and a single cut made through the foil just below the apex to form the upper opening, `and in the same operation, the excess material of the corner pleats can be `cut away. If desired, the lower end of the cut out foil can be left with an irregular shape. Such variations or modifications are to be included within the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A cop package comprising a thread-wound hollow spool as the cop enclosed by a seamless tubular synthetic -thermoplastic foil open at both ends, said tubular foil having a double pleat along each longitudinal side thereof with the inner foldsof said double pleats being spaced outwardly from the longitudinal center line ofthe liattened tube, a plurality of oppositely disposed heat-sealed pleats :being formed in said foil such that said heat-seal tapers lconically inwardly from the sides of the foil to an opening therein in the form of a truncated apex at one end of the cop so as to fit over and cover the outer thread surface on said sides 4and said end of the cop, the tuibular foil at the opposite end of the cop having a much Ilarger opening sufiicient to fit over the maximum diameter of the cop and said tubular foil having a length suicient to be folded over said opposite end of the cop and to be tucked into the axial opening of the hollow spool.

2. A cop package as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tubular foil is composed of polyethylene.

3. A cop package as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inner folds of said double pleats fall entirely within said tapered heat-sealed pleats.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,937,468 ll/1933 Talbot 206-46 2,326,928 8/1943 Courson 206-65 3,119,548 l/l964 Cook et al 229-53 3,259,235 7/1966 Sowle 206-46 3,260,358 7/1966 Gottily et al 206-46 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Examiner. 

1. A COP PACKAGE COMPRISING A THREAD-WOUND HOLLOW SPOOL AS THE COP ENCLOSED BY A SEAMLESS TUBULAR SYNTHETIC THERMOPLASTIC FOIL OPEN AT BOTH ENDS, SAID TUBULAR FOIL HAVING A DOUBLE PLEAT ALONG EACH LONGITUDINAL SIDE THEREOF WITH THE INNER FOLDS OF SAID DOUBLE PLEATS BEING SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF THE FLATTENED TUBE, A PLURALITY OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED HEAT-SEALED PLEATS BEING FORMED IN SAID FOIL SUCH THAT SAID HEAT-SEAL TAPERS CONICALLY INWARDLY FROM THE SIDES OF THE FOIL TO AN OPENING THEREIN IN THE FORM OF A TRUNCATED APEX AT ONE END OF THE COP SO AS TO FIT OVER AND COVER THE OUTER THREAD SURFACE ON 